From Archbishop Donoghue

Mass on Easter Day
April 12, 1998
Cathedral of Christ the King
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Dear Friends in Christ,

Over the past week we have heard many accounts of the last times in the life of Jesus, and now we begin to take in the story of what happened after He rose from the dead. No doubt, many of us in our lifetime will read retellings of the Passion, and we will read books about what the historical details of the Gospel-stories reveal, and we will look into the writings of the great mystical saints, to see what they have seen in visions, and to try and feel, with them, the events of the Lord's Passion, Death and Rising.

But after all this, and after our desire to study has been wearied by the wisdom of real experience, it is the bare, brilliant truths that we are left with - two of them, especially - Christ died, and Christ rose from the dead - and we also have His own word, that He did these two things for us.

Simple to hear, but not simple to accept. We have but to look anywhere in our own contemporary culture to see many who utterly reject all that we accept as the miraculous Truth. Many are like Pilate. Jesus said to him, ". . . I was born, to bear witness to the truth." - and Pilate answered, "What is truth?"

The world is full of Pilates, who take on a weary attitude, and refuse to believe in anything absolute - like good, and evil, and the natural law - for them, the world of values is a hazy area, more worthy of discussion, than of decision and commitment; and the world is also full of Judases, who sell their own integrity for the easiest, quickest way to get rich. They turn from the truth with scorn, because the truth does not always fit the needs of the moment, the need to score a hit, to make a deal, right now.

But the truth is not relative, and it is not hazy or unclear - The truth is absolute - it cannot be mocked and crowned with scorn - it cannot be torn under the whip of popular opinion - and finally, though hung on a cross and broken by pain, the Truth will not lie buried, but will rise, again and again, until the day when It is known by all.

We have said it before - Christ died, Christ rose from the dead, and for us. But why did He do it for us? Why should the love of the Being we try to imagine as God the Father, take on human flesh, in order to be put to painful death, in a conscious act of self-immolation?

In the beginning God gave us everything - and let us imagine for a moment that we are Adam and Eve. God has made us, He keeps us company, and He has given us the full use of all good things, all the bounty of creation. One thing He asks of us in return - trust, love, companionship - they are all the same thing.

But it wasn't - it isn't - good enough. We think we need a lot of other things too - knowledge - power - wealth - and now, in our own time, we strive to attain the very powers of creation, a goal which many believe marks the proudest height to which our human ingenuity has the capability to rise, and perhaps the lowest depth, to which it may fall.

Adam and Eve were not the only ones to sin - we still do it - we surrender to our desire for the self-destructive, and falsely believe that we are saving ourselves - it is in our nature to be this way, and I say this, so that we may all be reminded, on this Feast of feasts, that we are ever in need of the mercy and forgiveness of God. We are ever in need of God's healing grace. And this is why Christ died and rose. Love cannot let a wound go unhealed - love cannot let a confidence remain breached, or a broken friendship stay unmended - and love cannot turn its back and walk away. God IS love, St. John reveals, and so God MUST become the man who we know as Jesus Christ.

And so, dear friends, the Truth IS - as it was in the beginning, as it was yesterday, and as it will be tomorrow. Christ died - Christ rose - for our sakes, Christ will come back, and take us home to God.

But what do we do while we wait? How do we keep ourselves holy for the judgement, and our souls unbroken in their faith?

St. Peter, a man who denied and betrayed and ran away from Christ, was also among the first whom the Risen Christ healed, and inspired with the Holy Spirit of teaching - the Spirit which rules, guards, and safe guides our Holy Church. In his first sermon, here is what he said:

"You must repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; . . . and you must save yourself from this corrupt generation. . . For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call. "

During this Easter season, there will be many baptisms and confirmations, and many, who have been away from the Church and from the Sacraments, will come back, to be with the Church's family once again. And many, and we ourselves, will know the fruits of redemption as we answer Christ's call to renewal and sanctity, and turn as far as possible, away from that which is bad in the world outside. WE welcome all our new and returned brothers and sisters in the Faith, for we know how well the Eucharist Banquet heals us, and nothing makes us happier than to share its healing with new members. We know that the growth of our family will continue, as it has since the first day of the Church's life - for as we have heard, the promise was to them, it is to us, and to many perhaps far off in the future, and the promise is life, now and forever.

Dear friends, let us give to St. Paul the closing words of our Easter joy, and make his, our own thoughts on the Risen life of our Lord:

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ. . . let you thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on earth. . . for when Christ is revealed - and he IS your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.

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